Vegan Prince Khaled Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud announced this month on social media his intent to open vegan restaurants across the Middle East in an effort to combat the region’s obesity epidemic. “By 2020 we are aiming to have a minimum of 10 restaurants/cafés,” Prince Khaled said on Facebook. “Our region occupies parts of the top 10 most obese counties in the world. This is crazy and frankly a joke we have reached this level. I’m not saying opening 10 restaurants will solve this issue, but you better believe it’s a step in the right direction.” Prince Khaled joined JUST’s (formerly Hampton Creek) Board of Directors last year to bring his expertise in the area of finance and animal rights to the food-technology company. “I have been born into a situation that gives me the capacity to make a significant positive influence in the world,” Prince Khaled said in September. “Industrial animal agriculture is poisoning our planet, depleting resources, contributing to a global health crisis, and causing animal suffering beyond anything most of us can imagine.”

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